You Are My King
by wilde shot
Summary: Born to royalty there will always be greed, deception and violence hidden in plain sight. Sora, a young prince to a thriving nation and Riku, the fourth son of a Baron, discover this first hand.


**Wilde_shot: **Alright! Hello readers and welcome to the exhibition of too much free time and one too many rounds of Fable played years back in my youth. ***Smiles at fond and forgotten memories of innocence***

So, introductions aside this story will contain a little bit of ooc where the character are concerned. I will try to keep them to character as much as possible but considering the plot I have going I'm not sure how well it will be handled. Please don't maim, hurl tomatoes, stalk me because I don't update as quickly as you might like. I will try to update once every two week but I am in college (still writing fan fics) and have a personal life I like to keep active.

For the moment I've rated the story for Teens and depending on the responses I may or may not bump it up to M if you guys want a little smut thrown in. Or if I just want to taint the masses. This is a Boy's Love fic so I do not want to hear any outcries of how inappropriate this is. You've been warned.

**Disclaimer: **All characters that appear in this story do not belong to me and I do not take credit for them. This is simply a fan messing around with other peoples shit.

First Act: Tea & Trouble

When asked the question: If you had to choose, what one thing could you not live without? Some men answer, a good woman, others, a strong drink. For the young princeling it was something far more coveted than a female or the bitter drinks most men favored. The one item he wouldn't – no, couldn't go without, were the apple pastries that really _should_ be in front of him right this second.

The autumn rays, though a fair amount cooler than those of their summer, were still beating strongly against the large parasol that shaded a small whitewood table. The boy sitting there, none too patiently mind you, was bracing an elbow on the table and listlessly swinging his legs back and forth. He was the picture of impatience and had recently begun to voice his displeasures to the stiff man to his right.

"Butler! Why isn't he here yet? My invitation was set for half past noon wasn't it?" the brown haired prince grumped and the rigid man stifled a small, humoring grin before replying. "Indeed you did Sir, I do be believe the young lord will be along shortly. Do be patient with him."

It was not that the boy was spoiled, though he had never want for anything his parents were not keen on providing, he was simply sad that his planned date was not going as smoothly as expected. Though how smoothly a five year olds plan could go was undoubtedly a most curious matter. That aside he had gone over this day weeks in advance, made tedious preparations and had even had his mother write formal summons to the castle for the intended party and his intended was _late_. Needless to say he was quite unhappy that the day was ticking by without his guest or word of his presence on the grounds.

"I _have_ been patient." He complained, sliding his elbow off the table and instead resting his chin against the cool, smooth surface. "I gave him two whole weeks and he said he'd be here." Came the boys finishing statement before someone responded to his griping with a playfully surly note.

"Yes but you don't have a tutor who thinks meeting with his Prince is 'needless, frivolous activity'."

The voice immediately drew two sets of eyes as the speaker sauntered into the garden looking for all the world the Prince of their kingdom if not for the fact he didn't bear the royal crest that was snuggly fitted to the brunette's collar.

Monochrome hair slid over friendly blue eyes and dressed in an over coat shades darker, the boy carried the air of any court elite. And he was only six.

"Riku!" The enthusiastic wail was quickly followed by a lunge as the Prince leapt from his seat and all but tackled the other boy to the ground. "You're late Riku! If your tutor is giving you trouble, tell him I will have him fired and sent to the dungeon for meddling." It was a childish remark but he meant it in all seriousness. Nobody would get in the way of his time with Riku. No one.

By whatever miracle Riku had managed to stay upright, staggering slightly he braced the others weight by setting his hands on the smaller boys shoulders. He laughed good-naturedly, obviously not displeased with the younger child's affectionate display or his suggestion. "If I did that I would be out of a teacher Your Highness and I don't want to even think how father would react to that." He chuckled, running a gloved hand over the somewhat tame spikes of brown hair that tickled his chin.

The younger boy's frown deepened making his baby face seem rounder still at the use of his title opposed to his name. He hated when Riku used formalities with him. "Stop calling me 'Your Highness', Riku. You're supposed to be my friend." He whined softly as his hair was ruffled. It wasn't so much that he disliked his title, he accepted it whenever he was addressed knowing that it was more than just simple formality at play but also politics and ingrained kowtowing. But with Riku it was supposed to be different, he wasn't supposed to be royalty when they were alone; he was his friend and here away from the public's eye, status wasn't supposed to divide them.

"Alright, Sora." Just hearing his name felt wonderful. So few people ever called him by name without the attachments that he had almost begun to treasure the moments when they did occur. He liked it when Riku said it. Almost as much as when his father and mother did, which was all the time of course because they were King and Queen and didn't have to call him anything else. Unless he was in trouble, then they called him Sora St. Anthony Dammar and that was never a good sign. He'd learned quickly to hide whenever they called him like that.

"Come on, come on, you wasted too much time getting here so we have to start now if we're going to get everything done."

With that Sora began tugging his playmate toward the table that had, at some point during their conversation, been set for them. Tea had been shared for the two children in a pair of the finest tableware that could be found. Everything down to the napkins matched the setting though it was hardly noticed by the little lord who scooted into his rather tall seat and scraped the legs of his chair against the ground as he inched closer to the table. It was something that Bernard, his etiquette instructor, would have scolded him for if he had been there to see him. It was a good thing he wasn't. As stated before, no one got in the way of his time with Riku.

Allowing Sora to lead him to the table setting Riku smiled brightly at the boy who he could only name as his best friend considering he did not have many that weren't older or too insufferable to be given the time of day. Sora was important to him and not simply because he was the prince and heir to the Adaltian throne, but because the boy didn't care that he was nothing more than the son of a baron who ruled over a small region on the west coast of his empire. He had nothing to gain from him politically by being close to him and he was hardly what anyone would think to be a suitable playmate for the boy. But on the chance meeting they had at Riku's fifth birthday celebration to which the royal family had been invited. Riku had not submitted the invitation in jest but neither had he earnestly believed that their kingdoms rulers would come to a paltry gathering. So it was quite alarming the day their carriage was spotted on the horizon. And for whatever reason, Sora had all but glued himself to him, demanding that he be allowed to visit the castle and play.

Few accepted Sora's desire to be close to the boy and tried fervently to separate them. However, despite all the other children paraded in front of him, Sora had picked Riku every time, going so far as to work himself into such a fit that he fell ill when refused. He had gotten his way after that and no one questioned since.

Slipping into the seat across from Sora, Riku watched as the little boy looked expectantly at the corridor, anticipation all too apparent as his blue eyes fixed on the slow opening door. Two men dressed in their pristine white kitchen garments filed out, each holding a decorative tray that was gently placed before each youth and uncovered. A lovely trail of steam flowed forward and both took an appreciative whiff of the freshly baked pastry. The fragrant cinnamon dusted apples were hidden behind a flaky, golden-brown crust. The two cooks placed a small silver dish to their left its contents fluffy and white, probably whipped cream. Utensils wrapped in cloth were set down before the pair bowed mutely and left them in peace – not that Sora seemed to mind their presence to begin with.

As soon as the container of whipped cream had been placed before him his tiny hand had reached out and snatched the spoon, heaping generous amounts of the white substance onto and around his apple pastry before returning the spoon to the container and unraveling his fork. Riku, who had a great dislike of crème and most dairy-based items, didn't even look twice as he undid his own utensils. The supplied cloth was draped across his lap – Sora had completely skipped to lapping mounds of crème from his spoon as it melted against the warm pie and creating a soupy pool on his plate.

"So Sora, are you excited about your birthday? It's in a few weeks right?" Riku started, glancing up from his plate after spooning a mouthful of pie. The silver haired boy inhaled sharply and nearly choked the sight that greeted him and through violent coughing he managed to laugh.

Sora, no matter his title or his ongoing training to live up to said label, was still a child. The brunette's face was a masterpiece of dripping white and flecks of golden brown crusts. In places that had escaped being spotted with melted whipped crème there were flakes of crust. His shirt had not escaped the mess either. The ruffles that peeked over the collar of his coat had crumbs and crème and if he wasn't mistaken an apple wedge that had missed his mouth.

"Gee Sora, I think I should give my etiquette teacher to you as a birthday gift. Do us both a favor." He remarked between laughing and coughing.

Almost by magic the Butler, who had since been lurking in the background, produced a wetted towel and deftly began to wipe the young prince's face. Sora made little groans in protest but otherwise allowed the man to dab and rub and nitpick until he was presumably as clean as he could be, before retreating.

"I don't need another teacher Riku!" he moaned, the thought of it alone was distressing. He already had an etiquette teacher who consumed a fair portion of his time during the day as it was. Then there was the flutist his mother had gotten him the day she discovered his interest, no matter how small, in flutes. There was also his literature teacher, ecology instructor, and ethics instructor, all of whom vied for time with the five year old prince he wanted to do little else but run in the gardens and eat snacks. Riku could only smirk at the boy, knowing he had it tougher than he may ever have before resuming their previous topic. "Birthday, any ideas what you want for a gift?" he pressed.

Sora blinked, leaning back into his seat and looking pensively into the clear blue sky. "A gift." He hummed thoughtfully, closing his eyes and furrowing his brow in consideration. He honestly couldn't think of an item he didn't already own somewhere in the winding corridors of the castle that he did not own or was at least capable of viewing. He most certainly had to have had every toy their country and those surrounding it could ever manufacture and he was never in need of clothing. "I dunno, but I bet I'll like anything you give me Riku. Surprise me." He beamed at the boy who seemed content with the reply as he carefully chewed another mouthful of pie before speaking.

"So after eating what do you want to do?"

At this Sora could only smile mischievously, a look that brought both curiosity and hesitance from the older child who could only guess to what trouble the boy wanted to do today. The last visit he'd made to the castle had involved him and Sora being scolded by the divination witch in the South Wing for releasing all her Greslin's, palm-sized lizards that stuck to anything and everything and spat mucus. The end result had them chasing the things throughout the rest of his stay and with the both of them dirtier than they ever wanted to be again. But it had been fun…

"Butler! Me and Riku are gonna go to the garden and play!" He announced and the older man looked furtively between the children looking as if he wanted to protest but the brunette had already shimmied off his chair and was dashing toward the west gate that led into the garden. Riku spared an apologetic look to the man before he hurried off after his friend who was galloping out of sight. Again that feeling of trepidation quivered behind the heavier tremor of excitement.

Sora ducked behind a wisteria bush, eyes darting cautiously around the gate just a few feet away. Guards regularly patrolled the garden and to his knowledge there was always two stationed somewhere within the grounds and it was critical that they avoid being spotted because being seen would completely dash his hopes for an eventful afternoon.

"Sora? What are you – mrhff!" A hand clapped over Riku's lips and the shorter boy shot him a frantic look, shushing him with a finger pressed against his own lips before he looked back to the gate. "We gotta be quiet so we don't get caught. Keep a lookout for the guards." He instructed as he gingerly opened the gate and slid into the garden with stealth that urged Riku to believe this was not the first time he'd done this. Smiling he did as he was told, crouching lower as he snuck after the prince, eyes carefully looking for glinting iron armor he followed Sora as close as he was able without making noise. The brown haired boy seemed completely in his element as he flitted behind manicured hedges and flowering beds, sliding across the concrete wall squatting behind a cluster of ferns where he pried apart the branches and dragged out a dirty looking knapsack.

"We gotta change outta these clothes." Sora remarked as he upturned the bag and spilled the contents onto the grass for Riku to inspect. Clothes fell out of the sack; regular garbs that village children might wear during this time of month and judging from their size they were suspiciously accurate for each of them. "Sora, where did you get these clothes…?" Riku said skeptically, examining the plain blue-gray tunic and faded brown pants, warily looking around them. There was no way that a five year old had come up with this plan without help. Someone else was involved.

The boy was in the process of tearing his shirt over his head, exposing pale skin. "Miss Alice made'em for us. You know, the head witch?" he answered before bunching up his shirt and stuffing it into the bag before shaking out of his pants and standing boldly in his under garments.

Riku knew whom he was talking about. The doe-eyed witch who had been one of the six ministers at the Cerebellum the largest school for sorcery this side of Veristien – Adaltio's sister country. She was a woman of greatness, no one was sure why she had chosen to leave the Cerebellum and offer herself to King several winters ago. She had said that she felt compelled to do so and no one dared question the compulsions of the mage because they were usually right. But that aside, why would the witch provide them with peasant clothes? Unless…

"Sora, you're trying to go into town aren't you." Riku made it a statement of fact; he honestly didn't need an answer seeing as it was obvious but asked anyway. His answer was an impish giggle and having his own set of clothing thrust at him.

- **End** -

**wilde_shot: **And that friends is chapter one. I've made some revisions from the previously posted chapter and hopefully the small details are better.


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